Pras Michel of Fugees has spoken out about their recently cancelled tour with Lauryn Hill, and said that his frustration about the situation came on behalf of the fans.
Hill and The Fugees were scheduled to kick off their world tour earlier this month (August 9) in Tampa, Florida, and would continue their trek of the United States until September 21, before touring the UK and Europe in October.
However, just three days before the first scheduled show, the band quietly cancelled the US leg of the tour without any official explanation. Hill would later go on to blame the media’s “sensationalism” around previous shows being cancelled for the low ticket sales (via Stereogum).
Now, in a new interview with Vulture, Pras has said that he relates to the fans’ feeling of frustration and thinks that the band’s chequered past with touring – namely Hill’s reputation for showing up to shows hours late – may have impacted the poor sales.
“I was both surprised and not surprised,” Michel said of the ticket sales. “Last year, there were supposed to be 20 shows, and we did 10. They were all sold out, but 10 extra shows needed to be done that she [Hill] cancelled.”
He continued, explaining how that sense of disappointment may have carried over to this upcoming tour: “Now you put shows on sale this year, and people are like, How do we know this is not gonna be cancelled?
“The fans are saying, ‘It’s summertime, school’s about to come, I gotta buy supplies for my kids, there’s inflation.’ There’s so much you have to coordinate in your life. To go through that process for her to turn around and say, ‘Oops, cancelled.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Pras went on to explain how the issues of lateness were prominent even as the band announced their first show after a 15-year hiatus in 2021. The comeback gig was a Global Citizen show, which was unable to be livestreamed as planned as Hill Showed up three hours late.
“Everyone’s frustration has been building up. This is not something that just happened overnight,” he said, also recalling how the tardiness for that show led to some fans’ cars being towed. “My frustration was for the fans. They are paying their hard-earned money to see you.”
“I’ve never seen this kind of fan reaction toward Lauryn Hill. There is a rejection — ‘We help to pay your bill. Just like we should be happy you came, you should be happy we coming’,” he continued.
“This dynamic is a two-way street. It’s tough love. But this is not an indictment of her and her character. All people are complaining about is lateness… We’re going on almost three decades of our existence, individually and as a group. To have people still interested in wanting to come see you, man, you have to be grateful.”
Following the US tour being axed, Pras went on to share a track which appeared to contain a diss about the vocalist.
Titled ‘Bar Mitzfa’, the song was teased by Pras on his Instagram Story, with him also writing a message over the top. “No one will remember: clickbait beefs, how many Gucci bags you owned, bogus excuses. People will remember: How you made them feel, if you kept your word, if they could count on you, if you come on Time!” he wrote.
Discussing the song with Vulture, Pras said it was more about him venting his frustration than a diss.
“You’re family, you have internal disagreements, but it’s not going to be on a level where I’m dissing her — that doesn’t make any sense,” Michel said. “Artistically speaking, sometimes we say things because that’s how we express ourselves. This track is me speaking my truth. When I was writing the record, those lines just came out.”
This latest Fugees tour cancellation comes after a run of dates of shows dedicated to ‘Miseducation’ were axed last November, when Hill cited a “serious vocal strain for the past month”. She has since returned to performing with a handful of shows across February, March and April of this year including a slot at Coachella.
